


It's An Apocalypse Out There

by Skittlethrill



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Also hiding, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Everyone is teenaged, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Running away happens a lot, doomsday school, except for like the oldies, kind of a high school AU???, sounds edgy but is also mostly fluff, the most emotionally charged thing i came up with, the world literally ended
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-04-16
Packaged: 2019-03-22 08:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13760235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skittlethrill/pseuds/Skittlethrill
Summary: Morrison's squad has found themselves in the nuclear wasteland. Doomsday has come and passed, and left its ugly mark on mankind. They can only go so long.What happens after? None of them have anything to fight. So they turn to the children, and teach them in hopes that they never make the same mistake again.Welcome to the Gibraltar Doomsday Academy, where a squadron quickly learns that grouping up at least 20 rowdy teenagers can only last your sanity so long.





	1. Been Here All Along

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Post-Apocalyptic School AU, in which Jack, Gabe, Reinhardt, Ana, Torbjorn and probably Liao build a school and take in a bunch of kids, and name it Gibraltar even though they're not anywhere near it. Everyone else is teenaged, official ages may come soon.
> 
> EDIT: AAAH I'M SO SORRY BIG THANK YOU TO BETA READER THE REAPLET

Gabe sighed as he collapsed into the rickety old chair. The office he shared with his husband Jack was musty and the day had been exhausting on a grumpy old man like him. But he had a school to run.

Pulling up the computer, one of the few technological pieces he managed to extract from the rubble, he began browsing what he could. Half-shut eyes scrolled across work his students could do. Maybe he could get Reinhardt to make them run a marathon or an obstacle course or something.

He mindlessly clicked on the class roster for some reason, but his eyes stayed unmoving as he viewed the newest, most unprecedented addition to the twenty-something kids currently residing in the post-apocalyptic school his squad had painfully constructed for months.

Ana always insisted on having the student’s individual files colour coded, which he never understood until now.

Under Satya’s light blue-accented font, was a neon purple addition.

_Sombra :)_

The girl was 15, and her reason for being there was _i hacked the mainframe. change your password from ilovejack69 its so cheesy_ , with no period.

Gabe blinked at the monitor a few times, just to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination. “Jack.” His voice was straightforward, all tinges of his playful sarcasm lost. “Get over here.”

The blond-haired man quickly stood up from his desk. “What’s up?”

Gabe wordlessly pointed at the monitor, displaying the neon purple text. “Wasn’t you?”

“Nah.” Jack shook his head. “But this’ll be interesting.”

* * *

 

“Alright, kids, today we have a new student, her name is Sombra, colon closed parentheses.” Gabe looked down at the clipboard, much to the class' confusion.

“Her name is...what?” Jamison asked, from his seat in the front. “Ain’t that just a smiley face?”

“Yeah. That’s what she gave us...Sombra, if you’d like to introduce yourself?”

The classroom looked around for the mystery girl, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Welp, guess she’s a no-show. I’ll mark her down as absent.” Taking out a red pen, a small X was written down next to her name.

* * *

 

Sombra chuckled to herself as she entered the gate of the school. It had taken her 5 days, but she had infiltrated the post-apocalyptic school. With a laptop and whatever else she could scavenge in her bag (her most treasured possession), she had managed to slip past the security system and gangs of raiders.

The hacker went to the room she knew was the classroom, based on security camera footage. The students would gather here after morning exercises with the gigantic, German accented man named Reinhardt for Gabriel Reyes to give them information, so that they could “Pass the knowledge of mankind down to your descendants!” or something like that, in his words.

She opened the door. “Hola. Sorry I’m late, ran into a bit of trouble.” False, she took her sweet time.

The calm, prim girl - Satya Vaswani, if she was correct, the girl above her own entry - was the first to notice her. “Greetings, Sombra, colon closed parentheses.”

Well then. That was weird.

“Oi! It’s the new girl! Hiya!” One of the other girls in the back, with mousy brown hair and some sort of blue device strapped to her chest and - were those _crocs?_ popped up from her seat.

The classroom immediately turned to face her and clamored to get a look at the addition, asking so many questions she couldn’t keep track.

“Hey! _Cálmese_ , I can’t keep up!” The Latina held her hands up in a bit of defense, not that it would help her. But suddenly, the students quickly grew silent, scattering to their seats.

“Better. So, who’s the _idioto_ who runs this joint?” Sombra asked, only to receive silence in response. One of the boys, one with black hair tied in a bun, silently motioned for her to turn around.

“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?” She asked.

“Well, at least turn around!” The boy whispered, a forward, somewhat haughty tone to his voice.

“Can it, Hanzo, the _idioto_ ’s right here.” Sombra turned around to find someone who was practically old enough to be her dad - a man, tall, muscular with a brown, slightly disheveled goatee and scars lining his skin, running under his black dress shirt. His hair was hidden underneath a beanie.

“Hey, if you’re gonna kick me out, I’m on the list!” Sombra protested, a coy smile on her lips.

The man stared down at her, arms crossed.

“Aw, what’s wrong, _papi_?” Most of the class held back their snickers at Sombra’s comment. “It’s true.”

Gabriel only produced a pink slip of paper, which the girl took, reading off the contents in a slight mumble.

“Detention slip - hey, what for?”

“You were absent for 5 days, Sombra. You had Reinhardt looking all over for you in a mile radius. Jack was tearing his hair out. I made literally a ton of macarons under all that stress. You had us worried sick.”

“Wait, wha-” Gabriel ushered Sombra into her seat, at the left of the classroom, front row, next to a boy with wild, almost smoldering hair and in front of Satya.

“You’re going to be staying here and catching up on your work during recess.” Gabriel produced two textbooks and a small, neon purple pencil case, as well as a sheet of paper detailing several questions. “‘Bout time you showed up, anyways. I’ll help you if you need it. You got a notebook?”

“Whoa, wait, h-” Satya quickly shushed Sombra’s protests.

“Shh. I think it is in the best interest if you follow his order.” The Indian girl held a finger to her lips.

Sombra puffed her cheeks out in annoyance, but nonetheless took out her notebook, another neon purple one she scavenged from a store.

“Good. If you’re gonna hack into a system and add yourself in, do it immediately.” Gabe took his place at the whiteboard.

* * *

 

The classroom was empty, and Sombra felt a pang of loneliness as she stayed inside and finished her work. It was relatively easy - according to Gabriel, the school year had only started. Previously, there were 6 students last year, but Reinhardt had managed to add several more children to the roster - and a new teacher, too.

An older woman stepped into the classroom, carrying a small glass of ice water, a box of apple juice and several macarons on a plate. The woman was wearing a large, dark blueish-grey jacket, her hair done in a side braid. Most notable was the eye of Horus tattoo under her eye, and the eyepatch on the other. She set the tray down on her desk.

“Good morning.” She greeted. “I’m Ana. So, you are the one who’s gotten all the men here in a bundle, hm?”

“Guess so.” Sombra mumbled, taking a macaron and biting into it. “Mm. These are delicious.”

“Thank yourself. You had Gabe so stressed out he stress baked. I haven’t seen him do that since Jesse almost fell down the gorge.”

Sombra continued doing her work, but paused, putting down the pen Gabe had been so gracious to give her. “Y’know, I don’t get it. I hacked into the system, called Gabe my dad and got them super stressed. Why haven’t I been kicked out yet?”

“It’s an apocalypse out there, sweetheart. None of us would kick you back into that place.”

The Latina stayed silent, munching on another macaron, paying no mind to the small pink crumbs on her work..

“Besides, I like to think of us as a family. And you, _habibti_ , are its newest member. You might want to change your last name, though, colon parentheses is a mouthful to say.”

* * *

 

The dining hall was bustling with activity, but yet Sombra sat alone. She preferred to at least get a feel of what her new classmates were like.

As far as she knew, they were all so...outlandish. Sombra was carefree in some sense, obviously, but they were so tight-knit that she felt like she was just some self-insert who didn’t belong.

She poked at the food. This was the first time she got to taste Reinhardt’s currywurst. According to Efi - the youngest of the bunch, at 11 - it was a “staple of our culture”. Whatever that meant.

The metallic fork pierced the meat and dug out a small piece, and the Latina bit into it.

 

Wow.

Sombra had never in her life tasted something so beautiful, and spicy, too. She quickly dug in and ate some more, her taste buds rejoicing in the sudden burst of flavour. Back home, on her own, she had nothing but rice, or ramen, and no way to add flavour. The ramen packs were often stolen on her trips, and every grocery store she tried ransacking was stripped of any condiments or spices, or even salt and pepper. None of her clients bothered to pay her in food.

A sole tear slowly streaked down her cheek, and she snapped back to reality. Was she _really_ crying? Over _currywurst_?!

The tray next to her signified the newest arrival to her fortress of one - the man himself, Gabriel Reyes.

“Hey.” He greeted. “How’s the currywurst?”

“It’s not too bad.” Sombra replied, although the tear running down her face screamed ‘This is the biggest lie I’ve ever told!’.

“I know a lie when I hear it. Doesn’t do good on me.”

“So, whaddya want then, _papi_? You gonna ground me?”

Gabe pulled a teddy bear out from behind his back. “Got ya this when I first saw your name on the roster. Every kid here has one.”

Sombra turned the teddy bear over and over in her hands, turning her back to Gabe. She remembered having one back in the village, but it was taken away, stolen and sewn into some cloak. That was the only reliable thing she had. No one in the village had bothered to give her anything. It was always  _Sombra, hack this. Sombra, open that._ Sombra, Sombra, Sombra.

The tears were coming again. She was fifteen, dammit, she shouldn’t be crying!

“Hey. It’s alright to cry.” Gabe pat her back. “We’ve all gone through something. When doomsday happened, everyone suffered.”

Sombra quickly turned around and hugged Gabriel, her sobs soft and muffled within his hoodie.

The man only pat her back in comfort. “S’alright. If you need to, I can-”

“No. Just stay. Please.” Sombra buried her face in the dark hoodie.

“Mm. I’m not goin’ anywhere. Don’t worry.”

That day, Sombra had burst into the classroom and expected the same way people had treated her back in the wasteland. Instead, she found a family.

 


	2. Jamison Comes Up Explodey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A prequel to Sombra's entry. In which Jamison starts his time at the Gibraltar Doomsday Academy off with a bang. This is more Junkrat-centric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to beta reader Cadbberry!

“So, let me get this straight.” Ana put down the teacup back on its saucer. - a loose leaf tea that wasn’t irradiated was always a welcome addition. “You’re dumping these two boys on us.”

The person across from her was an old friend, who Ana called “Queen”. Fittingly, she had become the queen of some settlement that survived on scraps for trading.

“Well, dumping’s a bit of a stretch, but there’s nowhere else for them to go.”

“Oh?” Ana rested her head on her hand. “So you are getting soft.”

The knife blade went right between Ana’s fingers, but she didn’t flinch.

“Ah, shut up! Think of it as me being grateful that those pests saved my ass. And the settlement’s ass, too.”

“Well, you can’t just leave it at that. Tell me the details!” The eyepatched woman removed the dagger from the table and handed it back. “And try not to stab the table too much. Bad for the veneer.”

“Sorry. So, there’s a big gang of raiders about to get into Junkertown-”

“ _That’s_ what you called it?” Ana chuckled. “Very creative.”

Queen gave Ana a look of lighthearted contempt, like Jim from The Office, before continuing on. “ _Anyways_ , my settlement’s about to get broken down, and who comes in as we see this gigantic raid hurtling down the badlands? Those two, that’s what. Set up an entire explosion trap out of the entrances in no time.”

“Hmm...and they’re old enough to be in high school. I must say, this is quite a convenience. Two boys with potential to change the wasteland, and yet they’re robbers.”

“Planning to. I’m not lettin’ them leave Junkertown just yet, gotta have them set up another defense system.”

Ana gave a lighthearted scoff. “Always the opportunist, aren’t you? Well, you know us, I think we can handle them just well.”

The Queen stood up from the table. “Thanks, really don’t want those two causin’ trouble. Sorry if the supply run isn’t too good. Junkertown’s putting all we need into the rebuilding what the raiders managed to destroy.”

“What are you, Canadian? There’s no need to apologize. Oh, and make sure to say hello to Fareeha. She hasn’t seen you since last year.”

* * *

 

Lucio walked down the halls - well, more like skated, but his head bobbed to the beat as his newest music pumped into his ears. It was loud enough that part of him worried about getting some hearing disorder later on. Like tinnitus.

That was, until Lucio heard some odd...popping sound, and his classmate Satya shriek in horror from the bathroom. The shared, coed, communal bathroom. Said shriek was followed by a similarly, high-pitched giggle. Now _that’s_ how you get tinnitus. Lucio’s heart dropped faster than any beat.

He pushed the door open to find that Satya was fine, mostly, except for the gray ashes of a firecracker in her hands...but there were two boys across from her, and they definitely did not look safe.

“Woah, woah, hey, what happened?” Lucio asked.

“I asked the shorter one to take a bath.” Satya pointed to the boy whose hair was on fire. “Especially since his hair was a fire hazard.”

“Oi, I’m plenty fine where I am!” The boy shouted at her, and Lucio noticed that she visibly flinched, shrinking down a bit.

“Who are you two?” Lucio asked, sizing them both up and down. They were barely dressed, both being shirtless.

“I’m Junkrat!” The shorter boy pointed to himself. “And that’s Roadhog!” He pointed to the larger boy behind him.

Lucio wasn’t on friendly terms with Satya, considering her affiliation with Vishkar and all that, but obviously she needed assistance. He took a breath, about to say something when he smelt it. It was like chemicals, and burnt plastic and some acidic smell that made him recoil.

The first time Lucio agreed with Satya on something was that this boy definitely needed a bath. The second thing was that yes, he was a fire hazard because somehow, his hair had embers in it.

He whispered to Satya, “Let’s get out of here.” And Satya complied, promptly exiting the bathroom.

* * *

 

“We should definitely do something!” Mei exclaimed, a fiery passion in her eyes that only happened when she was talking about the weather. “They’re bullies! They wanted to take Snowball apart for scrap, and they called me bad names!”

“Hmph. Perhaps you would like me to teach them a lesson?” Zarya asked, the strong girl flexing and showing her muscles off.

“Well, have you tried asking them to stop?” Zenyatta asked, the wise boy calming the table. “I fear our teachers may not take kindly to disproportionate action.

“I did.” Satya grimaced, remembering the bathroom. “I asked him to please take a bath and he blew a firecracker up in my face.”

“And the guy with his hair on fire needs a bath!” Lucio added.

“Agreed.” Most of the table said in unison, save the few who did not have the privilege of meeting Junkrat and Roadhog, the two newest additions to the Gibraltar Doomsday Academy.

Were those their actual names?

“Hello, my friends!” Reinhardt entered the room, seeing several of his students crowded around a table. “Having a study session,  I see? Would you like me to make you some hot chocolate?”

A chorus of “Yes, please!” and some requests for other drinks sounded, and soon enough the German had a tray of steaming mugs, ready to be drank from.

“So, anything I can assist you with?”

The students looked amongst each other, silently conferring whether or not to tell Reinhardt the problems they had with the new arrivals.

* * *

 

Jamison Fawkes and Mako Rutledge, or as they had dubbed themselves, “Junkrat” and “Roadhog”, were currently sitting at a table, alone in the office.

“I don’t understand why the Queen wanted to send us here, eh, Hog? We should blow this place up!” Jamison suggested, his self-proclaimed bodyguard remaining silent.

The door opened, and in stepped what was definitely the largest man Jamison had seen. His jaw dropped open. Mako remained stoic, although the height was definitely of notice.

The man was at least 7 feet, dwarfing even Mako by a foot. Notable was his muscle. This man was strong enough that he could probably crush skulls with his hand. There was a large scar on his left eye as well.

The man sat opposite them, staring them down.

“Oi, the fuck do ya want, ya drongo?” The more profane Jamison asked.

“Now, now, there is no need for profanity.” The large man crossed his arms, leaning forward, looking menacing as ever. “How about we strike...a deal?”

“What deal?” Mako asked, the shorter boy shushing him.

“Quiet, hog, I’m doing the talking here.” If it weren’t for the gas mask, Reinhardt would see Mako’s eyes roll.

“Now, I’m sure that you didn’t have the best upbringing...but we don’t launch firecrackers at our friends, we don’t threaten our classmates, and we certainly do _not_ bully them.”

“And your point is?”

Reinhardt slid a few notebooks and a pencil case to Jamison - his school supplies. “I know you love explosions, boy. So, if you keep up the good behavior...perhaps I’ll let you test out a few explosives.”

The Australian-accented boy paused for a moment.

“...Deal.”

“Good!” Reinhardt pulled out a few papers. “Now, how about we sign a contract, just in case? Perhaps after that...” Reinhardt sniffed the air. “Perhaps you could use the showers after?”

“Oi, I’m not washin’ up just yet!” Jamison could not have taken the pen and signed it quicker. “Never needed one, anyways!” It proved to be a big mistake.

“Oh, I see you have signed the contract...it would have done you well to at least read it!”

“That’s the signal! Get him!”

The doors suddenly opened, Zarya and Mei pushing in a large washtub, a few other of his classmates running in with soaps and such.

Jamison looked back at the contract.

 

Under the requirements were the words _I will bathe myself at a regular pace of at least once every three days. If I do not comply, my classmates have every right to take individual action._

“Oi, wait, I didn’t agree to nuttin’! Watch the prosthetics - AAAAH! Roadie!”

As Zarya single handedly picked Jamison up and threw him into the tub, Reinhardt looked at Mako.

“I suppose you would like to follow him? He does some rather attached to you.”

“...Someone finally shut him up.” The German could practically see the smile under the gas mask.

* * *

 

Jamison was absolutely miserable. It had taken an hour, but the “Bath Squad”, as they dubbed themselves, had thoroughly decontaminated him.

He didn’t like the water. It was bad for his prosthetics (which were thankfully removed from his body before the ordeal) and he didn’t like being surrounded in the cold, blisteringly biting feel of the liquid.

The water did, actually turn out to be warm anyways, but it was only a small comfort.

Now he sat on a couch in the rec room, miserably waiting there under a towel. There was a short-sleeved blue dress shirt folded up, waiting to be worn. He left it alone for now.

 _Screw this,_ he thought. _Screw this school! Why’d the Queen send me here anyways?_

He felt a gust of wind blow past him through the window. His eyes widened as he realized something, an idea building up power in his mind.

_I don’t have to stay here. Nothing’s holding me here, I can leave whenever I want!_

He’d have to get supplies, obviously - he’d need food and water, and obviously some first aid supplies and some scrap.

He got up, and looked at the blue dress shirt. It wasn’t bad, not too high-quality but it had been hand-picked as something that suit the Junker the best.

Shrugging, he slipped it on. No harm in playing along the game. Now to find his pack.

* * *

 

Jamison slunk into the kitchen. He’d arrived on Saturday, and apparently Reinhardt was cooking up “another Sunday feast”, according to the girl with glasses.

The large German was currently at the stove, humming a tune to himself as he cooked some delicious-smelling dish that Jamison wanted to try, but he wasn't. He was going back to Junkertown.

He silently opened the cabinet, scanning its contents for something that would at least keep him alive for the day’s trek back. The shelves were meticulously organized, but he managed to find a pack of beef jerky and some granola bars. Jackpot! Jamison grinned, taking the granola bars first and shoving them in his pockets, before hiding the beef jerky under his dress shirt. He moved to shut the door, but he had been too careless at some point. Reinhardt turned around from the stove.

“Ah, mein _mäuschen_! What are you doing here! Shouldn’t you be with your friends?”

 _My only friend is Roadie._ Jamison wanted to spit at him. _I should be back in Junkertown._

“Oh! Uh, I was...looking for some water, that’s it.”

“Not to worry! Water is in the refrigerator. We have plenty to spare, so do not worry!”

Jamison smiled, but the grin on the inside was much more wider. “Thanks!” He took two water bottles, one being for “Roadie”.

_That’s right. I forgot about that old hog._

* * *

 

“No.” Mako held his ground.

“What do you mean, no?! This place is too...I don’t know how to describe it, but I don’t like it.”

“I like it. Everyone’s nice and they treat me like I’m one of them.”

“‘Course you would, ya big lug.” Jamison crossed his arms, kicking the trunk. “We’re leaving, whether you like it or not! Pack your things!”

“Nah.” Mako shook his head, not leaving the mattress he was situated on, flipping the page of the book he was reading. “Besides, in Junkertown you lost your arm and leg.”

“Come on, we have to go! These people are probably crazy or somethin’. No one’s this caring or whatever for a reason. Oooh, Roadie, maybe they’re a cult! Or, like some super secret super soldier program!”

“I’m. Not. Moving.” Mako shut his book. “You’re not dragging me, either, because I know you’ll come back.”

“Fine then! You’re fired, and I’m going back to Junkertown to get a better bodyguard!” Jamison picked up the backpack. “At least promise not to tell?”

“I keep my promises...but just saying, you weren’t even paying me anything.”

* * *

Surprisingly, Jamison had managed to escape quite easily out the window. He took off in the direction he knew was Junkertown - it was past noon at this point, and the sun was now in the west direction, right behind him. Junkertown was to the south, so he promptly turned right and began his trek.

Multiple times he looked behind himself to check if someone had seen and was following him, but no one. There was a fence in his way, much taller than he was.

With a grunt, the pack landed on the ground, and now it was time for Jamison to climb. It wasn’t electrified, he knew that - he’d have heard a low hum. He gripped onto the diamond-patterned chain links and began his ascent.

At the top, however were three (3) lines of barbed wire running across the fence’s top. Jamison’s pack had cleared it with no difficulty, but Jamison was going to have to soldier on. At least he had a prosthetic.

His metal hand gripped onto the metal fencing, and he managed to hoist himself up onto the top. He looked behind him again to watch for anyone, but no one was at the windows.

Wincing as his leg was pricked by the barbs, he jumped, feeling the wooshing of air before hitting the ground, falling flat onto his face. He was covered in cuts from the wires and bruises, but that was okay! He had a-

 _The first aid kit._ He had, in his argument with Roadhog, forgotten to take one.

It was okay, only a few cuts and scratches! Nothing too life-threatening, unless Jamison got infected. He’d need bandages, but he had none.

Nevertheless, he continued travelling down. In his eyes, he was making good time, and the makeshift, somehow functioning building slowly disappeared across the horizon as the hours passed by and day turned to night.

He’d have to set up camp soon. In his pack was the small shelter he and Mako used once or twice in the wastelands, and he had a lighter on him. He was already set.

* * *

The fire roared, but Jamison was paranoid that someone would see the light, or maybe even the smoke. He’d have to put it out soon.

He took two or three beef jerky strips, putting them in his mouth one by one before closing the bag. Who knew how long it’d be? Taking a swig from the water bottle, he desperately wanted to be home in Junkertown.

_It doesn’t feel like home now._

Jamison took the bucket of sand and dumped it on the fire, extinguishing it for good. He was tired, and he was looking forward to sleeping.

Inside the shelter, Jamison set up the sleeping bag inside his pack. The Queen said it was unnecessary and that the school had cots (which were, admittedly quite comfortable) but Jamison’s sleeping bag stuck with him through thick and thin.

Sighing, he zipped up. Beside him should’ve been Mako in his own bag.

“I miss ya, hog.” Jamison said out loud.

And he imagined Mako, absolutely miserable in his room, looking at the night sky and wishing he came with Jamison. And he’d say, _I miss you, Jamison._

* * *

 

“Nyet! Uh-uh, I am not a good loser!” Zarya pinned the large boy's hand back onto the table.

“And Zarya wins the arm-wrestling comp!” Lucio announced, and the few spectators there congratulated both competitors.

“Heh, I must say, you are quite good. Buuuut, not as strong as I am.” Zarya showed her muscles off. “These guns are not just for show.”

“Good game.” Mako got out.

_I feel like I’m missing something…_

“Ooh! Mako! I have to get you to taste Reinhardt’s currywurst! He’s making it for tomorrow’s big dinner, but you’ll love it, I promise!” Hana tugged on Mako’s sleeve.

_Eh. I’ll get back to it...later._

* * *

  
When Jamison woke up, he was tied to a chair. Confused, he tried to play back the last night, but he remembered going to sleep. That was it.

There were two guys in front of him, dressed in tattered clothes. Raiders. One had a backwards baseball cap, the other sporting a wilted mohawk.

“So, ya one of the kids from that Doomsday School, eh?”

“Doomsday School? I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.” Jamison replied.

“That school. Thinks it can change the world when it already ended.” Mohawk pulled out a knife. “Don’t play dumb with me, you came from that direction.”

“Look, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about!” The Junker tried to break free of the ropes tying him down. “Think you could let me go, I gotta get back to Junkertown.”

“Back? Y’know, we were just there. Didn’t take too well to us...say, Chet. Don’t he look familiar?” Baseball Cap asked.

The blond began sweating.

“Yeah...think we saw him there launching grenades at us.” Mohawk - Chet, actually, made an exaggerated thinking pose.

“We don’t take too well to people taking out our own people.” Baseball Cap took out a spiked baseball bat. “What’s ours is ours.”

“Not my fault you were stupid enough to walk right into those traps.” The boy had to resist spitting at them. “Whaddya want me for, anyways?”

Chet took out a knife. “You’re going to tell us where we can get supplies. Comply, and we’ll let you free, with a share.”

“And if I don’t?” Jamison asked.

Both weapons raised at him. “We have ways of making you speak...and then we’ll burn it down in front of you. All your friends, up in flames.”

“Good luck! I’m tough as nails, I’ve already lost two limbs!” Jamison looked at his stumped arm and leg. “Wait, where’d they go?”

“Scrapped. You could always get used to losing another. Mack, which one should I do? Arm or leg?”

“Do his leg! I wanna see him crawl away screaming for help!” Baseball Cap jumped up and down, obviously excited.

The knife was thrown right above Jamison’s head, hitting a post, and Chet grabbed a hatchet from a crate.

“Timber!” Chet yelled as the blade was raised.

And suddenly, Jamison saw something crash through the walls and smash Chet and Malcolm away from the hostage.

“Not so fast!” The thing - no wait, it was a person, in gigantic armor - stood up. “I will not let you harm a student of mine further!”

“Who the hell - oh, you’re one of the teachers, huh? Two for one deal is always appreciated...I can’t wait to make you scream!” Malcolm raised his bat and charged towards the knight.

With a swing of his hammer, some hot, firey projectile was launched at the raider, and he dodged, only to get knocked into the wall with another swing.

Chet took out a bottle of alcohol, with a string inside. _Molotov Cocktail_ , his mind screamed. It wasn’t his favourite explosive, but it was great for fires.

The bottle sailed right towards him in an arc, but a blue barrier suddenly formed as the knight formed a shield.

“Not to worry, _mauschen_! I am your shield!”

“Reinhardt?!” Jamison asked incredulously. “How’d you know I was here?”

“You need to work on your stealth.” Reinhardt took his helmet off, winking at the younger boy. “I heard you take those jerky packs.”

Jamison sat there in shock, realizing his plan was up from the start.

Reinhardt knocked Chet back, charging forward and pinning him against the wall. Both men now groaned in pain.

“Another glorious fight, if I do say so myself!” Reinhardt untied Jamison from the chair.

“Wait...but you never answered my question. How’d you know I was...y’know, _here_?”

The two exited into the wasteland, making their trek back to the school, Reinhardt carrying both raiders under his arm. Jamison's pack was back on him. His prosthetics had turned out to be inside, much to both of their relief. “Simple! I followed once I got my armor on and set a watch over you!” Reinhardt hoisted Jamison over onto his shoulders. “I wouldn’t let a student of mine fall to some raiders!”

The boy reflected on this fact for a small while, hugging tight against Reinhardt’s armor.

* * *

“We have arrived!” Reinhardt threw the doors to the dining hall open. There, in front of him were plates and plates of food, some he could name and others he didn’t know how to even describe.

That wasn’t the main thing that caught his eye. All of the students were there, happily eating.

“It’s about time.” Ana walked out of the kitchen, carrying a plate of food that made Jamison’s mouth water. “And just in time for my _koshari_ , too.”

“Jamison!” Mei waved. “Come on, sit over here! We missed you so much!”

“You...did?”

“Of course!” Mei pulled the chair next to her out. “Sit! You have to tell us about what happened!”

Jamison sat down in the chair, before noticing a presence behind him.

“Hey.” Mako waved down at him.

“Roadie!” Jamison instantly leaped back up, hugging his bodyguard. “I missed you so much! You missed me too, right?”

The boy stood there, before silently nodding. “Told you you’d come back.”

* * *

 

Jamison settled in the cot, his belly full of delicious food.  His hunger was sated, but no matter how much he tossed and turned, the state of sleep would never overtake him. Mako was off doing some reading in the library, so no comfort there.

He walked out, making his way to the staff dorms, and knocked on Reinhardt’s door.

The door opened, and the giant German looked down at Jamison. “Hello again! What can I help you with?”

“I’m not...bothering you, am I?”

“Not at all! I was just finishing up some nice reading. I would have loved to be on guard, but Ana wouldn’t let me. ”

_Of course she would, after you stayed up watching me._

“Alright...cuz I can’t sleep.”

“Ah, too excited from the adventure, hm? I know just what can help!”

A few minutes later, Jamison was in his cot, sitting against the wall, while Reinhardt sat on a chair next to him. The German gave Jamison a small notepad and a pencil.

“What’s this for?” The boy asked.

“I’ve noticed that you are always itching for something to keep your mind focused...so I gave you a notebook for you to write down your ideas for anything!”

Jamison opened it, staring at the blank pages for a second or two before immediately beginning to write down some things. Reinhardt only stayed next to him, watching as over time, Jamison’s eyes slowly shut and he fell slack, his notepad having a half-finished schematic on it.

Finally, Reinhardt stood up, gently laying Jamison on the cot so not to disturb him anymore, and tucked him in.

“Sweet dreams... _mauschen_.” He whispered, patting Jamison’s head softly, before leaving.

* * *

Jamison’s notebook was a big game changer. His mind no longer distracted, he no longer bothered his classmates. Slowly, his sketches shifted from explosives to other things. The wasteland, things in the school, his classmates. Jamison’s sketchbook told the tale of a boy who got into art.

He didn’t like being the newest kid in town, but it was a title he had to bear having for a long time.

One day in class, he was focused on drawing his teacher, Gabriel Reyes. The man took out a clipboard, reading off of it. A nice pose.

“Alright, kids, today we have a new student, her name is Sombra, colon closed parentheses.” Gabe looked down at the clipboard, much to the class' confusion.

Jamison wrote down the name on his sketchbook. Sombra. A colon and closed parentheses was…

_Sombra :)_

“Her name is...what?” Jamison asked, from his seat in the front. “Ain’t that just a smiley face?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you Cadbberry and Reaplet, who are the two beta readers so far! The next chapter focuses on Amelie and what she did to become part of the Doomsday Academy. After that will be a McHanzo entry, then perhaps something chosen by you! If you want suggestions on what you want to see, please let me know!


	3. 4 Stories that End with Angela Dragging a Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4 Stories. Despite the comical name, (and don't worry, all the bodies aren't dead) this is probably one of the more stirring chapters.

  1. Lena



Winston sighed as he took a seat amongst the rubble. It had been weeks since doomsday happened, and yet he still wanted to deny that the world had ended.

When the physicist had emerged from the rubble of the laboratory, part of him had been thankful that he had remembered to duck and cover, that he had survived.

The others, however, were nowhere to be found. Winston would occasionally find an artifact of years past that he remembered belonged to one of his fellow scientists - a necklace, or a ring.

It took him six weeks to find something to bury for each person he remembered, and yet he’d still find more from people he never knew.

He did see someone in the distance. Oh boy. Winston hoped that it wasn’t a raider, but they were alone, so hopes were high.

As they grew closer, Winston thought they looked familiar. 

“Winston? Luv, is that you?”

His heart dropped. Out of the people he wanted the least to survive, it was this person.

It wasn’t out of mean spirit or anything, in fact Winston had quite the big heart. He barely had a mean bone in his body. But out of concern that what remained after would be incredibly traumatizing, that perhaps maybe it was better if this person wasn’t around to see the horrific world.

“Lena?!” The cheerful girl next door, who he had crafted the chronal accelerator for. Poor, poor Lena, who at 11 years old became the youngest person involved in an experimental teleportation accident that left her unattached to time.

The nation’s beloved girl had become resilient to doomsday, and he supposed it was a blessing and a curse. One less person to mourn, but he had to take care of her.

“Yup! Cheers, luv, the cavalry’s here!” She winked, giving her signature line, before her smile dropped. “But, well, everything’s gone bang.”

“...Yeah.”

The two sat together on the rubble.

“...’least the sunset’s nice.”

“Always the optimist, aren’t you, Lena?”

* * *

 

“Gah! This is mine! I found it first!” The raider dodged Winston’s attacks. “Outta my way, four-eyes!”

“That’s not even a good insult!” Winston retorted. “Now, please, give those back!”

Winston often found himself having to defend the graves of his fellow scientists. Almost a year after the bombs and already people were trying to kill for a living.

The good thing was that he had enough time to sort through the rubble, make a nice shelter for both him and Lena to sleep in, eat, just plain try to keep living.

The bad thing was that he found skeletons. The bones of those vaporized by the bombs. Winston always found their nametag, and he always made sure they had a proper burial. Some that he knew personally, he said something.

_ “Nguyen...you were bright, innocent, young. I remember when it was your birthday and you treated us to an escape room outside of work, and we escaped with 10 seconds. I’ll never forget you.” _

_ “Wright, you knew just what to do. You may have been aloof, and I’ll be honest, sometimes I was annoyed at how detached you were, but you always knew how to solve a problem. I’ll never forget you.” _

_ “Lawther, I never knew you outside of work, but...I’ll try and keep you in my mind. You could have been a friend to many, but...I guess I’ll never know. But that doesn’t stop me from saying that I’ll never forget you.” _

The bad thing was that raiders would try and sneak in, to steal scrap or jewelry from graves. Winston would have to fight them off to protect his friends.

This one had been really sneaky, though, and almost got away with it. But Winston wasn’t letting them go.

Out of the corner of his eye, Winston saw Lena with a shovel. His heart dropped as he realized what she was going to do. He desperately wanted to protect her, but that would put her in so much danger.

But then the raider snatched his glasses off his face and snapped it.

Winston looked at his glasses. The one thing that kept him sane was his ability to see, but now everything was a blur. 

Everything was a blur as he grabbed the raider and began launching punch after punch, an insatiable rage burning within him. Those were his glasses. He needed them.

It wasn’t until he was certain the raider was dead that he stood up, before he realized what he had just done. He looked around, where Lena had been hiding, watching the entire ordeal.

His heart dropped. Lena had seen him tear into a raider and use him as a punching bag. What would she think of him now? He didn’t deserve to raise her if he could  _ explode _ like thi-

But the girl ran up to him and hugged him, and he felt himself calm down a little.

“Winston, luv, I’ll try and fix those for you, alright?”

“...Thanks...Lena.”

* * *

 

Lena searched, illuminated only by the lantern. Upon closer examination, she found that the lenses were in fact, still intact, and therefore still usable for Winston to see. With the frame gone, it was up to her to find something viable.

Her eyes scanned the piles of rubble. Winston depended on her, she knew she could do it!  It was hard enough scratching up enough material to be used as a frame, but to bend it around the lenses was also a pain.  Lena had only stayed up very late once - when she had gone stargazing with friends, and they stayed up all night just looking in awe at the night sky. This time, it wasn’t for leisure - Winston depended on her.

Her ears picked up footsteps - she didn’t have above average ears, but the ambience of night was silent enough to give it away. She quickly looked around for something to protect herself and her scientist friend.

A metal pipe. It would have to do.

She took the glasses and ran to Winston, who was sleeping. Lena didn’t want to wear the scientist out more than he already was with his glasses being broken and fighting off a raider.

As the footsteps drew closer, Lena’s breaths drew more ragged. She wanted to hide, close her eyes and pretend this was all a dream, and that she’d be home back in her bed where she could worry about math homework and whether or not cereal was a soup, instead of having to protect her neighbor with a metal pipe.

“A lantern?” The voice asked. “Odd…”

Lena’s breath hitched. She had forgotten to blow out the lantern! She was definitely in trouble now. Gripping the pipe, she realized that she had no choice.

With a battle cry that only a pre-teen could muster, she ran out of the hiding place, where she almost stopped because she saw a 7 foot shadow blocking the light source. Nonetheless, she aimed the end right at where the head was…

...only for the end to meet with this new person’s hand.

* * *

 

When Winston woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was on a bed, and not some makeshift sleeping bag.

The next thing he noticed was that his vision was clear once more. Touching his face, he realized that Lena - or someone - had fixed his glasses.

_ Lena. _

“Lena!” He exclaimed, sitting up and hauling himself off the bed. He ran towards the door, hoping to find Lena somewhere. He had to keep her safe.

He stumbled out into a hallway, and looked around. “Lena?” He croaked out. 

The scientist’s heart dropped as he assumed the worst, and he frantically looked around. “Lena!”

He ran down the hallway, hurrying to the nearest door and opening it. “Lena? You in here?!”

What he did see almost gave him a heart attack.

* * *

 

“Lena, you really need to give Winston a break. I’m half sure you gave him a heart attack just by swinging on Reinhardt’s arms.” Hands on her hips, Angela watched Reinhardt bolt out of the room to notify of what happened.

“Sorry, Angela...but I just can’t resist! He’s so tall!”

The blonde girl sighed, and with a roll of her eyes moved Winston’s unconscious body towards the infirmary, but she stopped as the door opened.

“Howdy!” A boy with a cowboy hat strode in with two plates of french fries and a large, plastic container of ketchup. “This the new girl?”

“Yup! I’m Lena Oxton! Who’re you?”

“Name’s Jesse McCree. I got you fries and some ketchup. Want some?”

“Ooh, I love chips!” Lena took one and dipped it in ketchup, eating it. “They’re delicious.”

“I thought they were fries.” 

“Chips!” Lena shouted, indignantly.

“Fries!”

Lena reached onto Jesse’s head and snatched his hat off. “They’re chips~” With a mischievous smile, she zipped, evading Jesse’s attempt at grabbing it back.

“Hey! Give it back!” Jesse set down the plate on the table, running after her. However, in his recklessness he tipped the plate over, causing it to spill its contents all over Winston. The plate shattered, and Jesse picked up one shard, covered in ketchup. “Whoops.”

“Jesse! Lena! Watch it!” Angela tried to drag Winston’s ketchup-stained body towards the door. “And help me out!”

“What on earth is going on here?!” Ana exclaimed, having opened the door and returned to a tableau of:

 

  * Angela, dragging a body covered in a red substance
  * An unknown girl carrying Jesse’s hat
  * Jesse, in possession of a shard of plate that is also red



“...I’m very disappointed in you two.” The woman shook her head. “Jesse, you should know exactly where to stab so you don’t make such a mess. Angela, hold your arms under his armpits and grab his wrists. Don’t strain your back too much.”

“Ana...it’s ketchup.”

”Oh. Well, at least you know how to drag a body. Maybe next time.”

* * *

 

  1. Amelie



 

Amelie lined up the shot within the rifle. She hadn’t been entirely sure when she had gotten it, only that in the midst of the rubble, she picked it up, and taught herself how to shoot.

It was hard, but she desperately needed it. In the midst of the explosion, gangs of raiders had set up all around and it took all she could to keep her sanity.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Amelie. She had a cute spider bracelet and loved to dance. Once upon a time, Amelie hid in the basement when the scary message came on TV and told her to seek underground shelter. Once upon a time, when a bomb - not nuclear, something much, much worse - went off, Amelie died, as did her parents, and yet she survived.

It was all in the past now. Memories would fade, but Amelie didn’t care. In fact, describing what Amelie felt was likely “dead inside”. The wasteland had taught her, like most children, that the world was harsh and unforgiving, that who you were or used to be might as well have been thrown out a window.

She needed food and water, so she had traveled to the nearest warehouse to find supplies. Unfortunately, a raider gang had already set up there.

Fortunately, the girl was stealthy enough to live behind the scenes, memorizing each member’s patrols.

One day, she was observing one member through the scope of the rifle when she pulled the trigger. She couldn’t stay, her cover was blown. She bolted through the exit doors and headed towards the next store she could find.

All she cared about was the next meal, the almost burning sensation eating away at her. She was hyperfocused and yet she couldn’t, and she couldn’t bring herself to stop moving.

She made a resolution. She was going to take this one out once and for all, and then she wouldn’t have to worry about anything else. As long as she survived long enough to see help come for her.

At some point, she had managed to become an expert at discerning which foods were good and which weren’t, and how exactly to survive in a supermarket. She stayed away from the dairy and meat sections, which always smelled. The frozen foods were also off limits, but not all in the store was lost. The canned foods section was a godsend, even if Amelie knew that soon they would expire. It was why she always stocked up on them.

Her routine went like this - find a store with high shelves. Infiltrate and climb them and climb to and fro. Identify the gang. Memorize their patrols. Take two or three out with the sniper rifle, then in the chaos, make a break for it with the supplies she amassed. If she had to, she’d throw a grenade that she’d occasionally find amongst a soldier’s corpse.

That was until she hit a snag, of course.

She had made a mistake at some point. Someone must’ve had the same idea, because when she woke up, hidden in the toilet paper, she discovered a raider sealing the nearest door shut, with an aerosol can and a lighter.

“That’s the last of ‘em, boss!” The raider tossed the can aside. “Uh, why do we need these again?”

“Well, Alicia saw some people enter through an exit door, but she hasn’t been able to see them since. So we’re locking ourselves in. No one goes in or out, except through the doors in the pet food aisle. And those are closed with padlocks. Which I have the keys to.”

_ “Merde _ .” Amelie swore under her breath, making sure not to be audible. Someone else had the same idea, and had enclosed her within this web.

She made her resolve, buried underneath all the toilet paper. She was going to take out this gang. The entire gang, once and for all.

She knew how many there were. 30 people. She checked the rifle. 15 bullets.

She was going to have to improvise.

* * *

 

She was on top of the shelf. Night had fallen outside, and now she could see two lights in the supermarkets. One was the main raider camp, but the other was closer to her.  Perhaps she needed to scope out the new intruders.

A few hops, skips and knocked out guards later by dropping a heavy item on them, she arrived at the new arrivals’ camp. 

There were 5 people - an older woman with a side braid, a very short man who looked like a garden gnome, a man in knight’s armor, a man with a beanie and a man with blonde hair.

“Well, we’ve set up. The turrets are functional, right?” Blonde Hair asked.

“Of course they are!” Garden Gnome replied, a bit of an angry tone to his voice. “You ask me this every time we set up!”

“Shh. Not so loud.” Side Braid put a finger to her lips. “What if someone was listening?”

“We can always wipe them out!” Knight exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. “When do we strike?”

“I have an idea. Huddle up.” Blonde grabbed Beanie and everyone assembled into a circle.

Friends. Amelie loathed and loved the sight. She yearned to have someone to talk to and interact with. The last time she spoke with someone before the bombs that wasn’t bound to lead to death was checking in to a small inn in a settlement.

She felt something stir within her. Jealousy.

* * *

 

It had been 4 days now. This squad seemed dead set on something happening, and Amelie wasn’t sure what it was.

Her original plan was to wait for the ensuing attack amongst the 30 remaining members and pick off people in the chaos, but nothing happened. It appeared that she’d have to take matters into her own hands. She climbed up onto a shelf and poked the rifle through. No one had noticed yet.

She’d have to move once she took the shot. She knelt down, and held her breath. The scope aligned right with someone’s head.

Bang. 29.

Everyone jumped up and began running, and she quickly vacated her spot. She’d have to leave soon. She jumped onto another aisle, hiding behind large boxes.

Down on the floor, she could see the Knight and Blonde come out of a hiding space. Blonde had a rifle, while Knight began bashing and charging people in, occasionally raising his shield.

It made her heart as cold as ice. Not because of the blood, but because she realized that they had been waiting on  _ her. _

“Hey.” A hand pat her shoulder, and she whipped around, ready to butt the end of her rifle into her assailant.

Beanie chuckled as he caught Amelie’s attack. “Sorry for spooking you. Just dropping in to say nice shot.”

“...Thanks?”

“Wanna see something cool?” Without waiting for an answer, he tapped into his left ear.

“Jack, group’s coming up at your 3. Want me to clear them out?”

“Knock yourself out, Gabe.” Blonde replied.

“Roger that.” And he jumped off, pulling out two shotguns from under his hoodie. 

“ _ Clearing the area.  _ **Die, die, die!** _ ”  _ With a voice so menacingly malicious, a huge switch from his previous voice, he wildly shot his way around, somehow killing 6 people off.

Amelie’s eyes widened. These weren’t survivors. They were warriors of an age past when she still danced and lived.

Oh yeah, and also because of two people approaching behind Beanie.

She quickly took aim and fired one shot through the leg of one, and the chest of the other. She scoped out the rest of the ensuing chaos. She could make a break for it right now, smash the padlock and leave everyone else behind.

No, she decided. Perhaps she would stay here and help them out.

* * *

 

It had taken no less than 10 minutes before the entire gang had been extinguished. Amelie rested her head against the boxes on shelf. She was tired.

Beanie - well, Gabe, actually - scaled the shelf up to her position. “Hey, kid-” And that was all it took.

She couldn’t face them. She couldn’t. What would they do to her?

“Hey! Wait up!”

Amelie ran into the storeroom, heading through a small hallway in the back towards the employee break room. There was an exit door - not welded down or padlocked. Strange.

“No, don’t go there!”

Refusing to heed, she pushed the door open. As soon as she did, however, she felt an explosion knock her onto the ground. Pieces of debris fell, encasing her and trapping her within.

“Shit! You okay?”

“What did you do?” Amelie asked.

“We set up an explosion trap. The gang didn’t know about the exit door here. Does anything hurt?”

The girl tried to move. “Ah…” She winced, feeling the surge her nerves sent. “I think one of my legs are pinned.”

“Well, we’ll need Angela. Reinhardt, guard the area. Jack, Ana, Torb, get to the jeep and get Angela. I’ll stay with her.”

The rocks were closing in on her, even if they didn’t move. She could hear Gabe picking out rocks near her head.

“Y’know, you didn’t tell me your name.”

“It’s Amelie.”

“Alright, Amelie, help is on its way.” A rock was finally removed near her head, and she breathed in the cold air. “Nice.”

“You won’t hurt me, will you?”

“No, I’ll eat you.” The rocks around her head were finally removed and she could take a nice look at Gabriel’s face, so that he could see her glare of contempt.

“Not funny, huh? Sorry ‘bout that.”

The two sat there in silence.

“I hate this. I want to go home to France where the rest of my family is. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

Gabriel sighed as Amelie vented about the frustrations of living in the post apocalyptic wasteland. “Talk about it. Although I’m not sure France exists anymore, either.”

“I just want to talk with people who won’t kill me and take a hot shower, and maybe have food that I can trust. Is that too much to ask?!”

“I know a place that has all three. Except the second one. Reinhardt still needs to learn to conserve water. It’s a school, too. A nice place to rest your head.”

“I’m a killer, though. How could people trust me?”

Gabe could think of a million ways to retort, to say that maybe people wanted to kill Amelie because she was the killer, but he saw the full extent the bomb had turned people into.

“You think you had it bad? You shot down like, 5 people in 10 minutes. I know a kid who took out an entire gang using his wits and a revolver. I know a girl who took one of those mechs - you know those ones, right? Painted it pink, flew it into a raider settlement and shouted ‘Nerf this!’ You’re not the worst. If anything, you’ll fit right in.”

* * *

  
“The stars are pretty.”

“Yeah. Not to wax poetic, but the stars will still shine even when Earth is dead. Always some beauty to the horror of reality.”

It was nice, just the two of them and the silence of the wasteland.

Amelie noticed something wispy emanating from Gabriel’s fingers, his eyes widening a bit before just tensing up a bit more and keeping it cool.

“...What was that?” She asked.

“It was nothing.” Gabriel lied, looking back at the wasteland. “Dios mio, where are they?”

Amelie wanted to call him out on his lie, knowing that when people lied, sometimes they averted their eyes or blinked more. 

She heard the rumble of an engine, and a blonde girl popped out of the back.

“Gabriel! Are you two alright?” She opened up a first aid kit. “Where is she hurt?”

“Left leg. I didn’t want to risk anything so I took out most of the rocks except the ones near her legs.”

“Alright, we’ll have to drag her out of there.” Amelie felt two hands wrap under her armpits and grab onto her wrists. “My name is Angela. I’ll be fixing you up.”   
  


* * *

 

  1. Jesse



 

The tent was dark, but there was no other home Jesse remembered.

He knew he had a family, obviously - every human had to be born, but when he stumbled out of the rubble, he began to forget.

Deadlock was his home now. Just him and eight guys, roaming the wastelands and doing as much as they could to survive. Even burning a raider camp and taking their supplies. So far, life was good, but part of Jesse nagged at him.

_ They don’t like you. _

As much as he tried to shake them out of his head, he couldn’t help but feel a bit more paranoid. Always watching over his food, watching his back, watching the others.

He exited the tent, where the campfire was, sitting amongst his peers. “Howdy.”

The leader - Vince - stood up. “Yo, Jesse, mind if I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure thing, pardner.” He stood up and followed Vince to behind another tent, keeping a hand on his trusty revolver Peacekeeper.

“Listen...you’ve been acting a bit off since the raider camp. What’s on your mind?”

“Nothin’.” Jesse drawled, still not taking his hand off the gun. “Just been havin’ kinda...intrusive thoughts.”

“Well, I’m not a therapist, but what do they say?”

“...Things like I don’t belong in this gang, the other people are plannin’ to kill me.”

“Well, I could see why. You greet everyone with howdy, you have a ridiculous cowboy hat and you dress like a child on Halloween. You might wanna lose the cowboy aesthetic...or you’ll lose your head. You’re the youngest here and a great shot...but maybe those thoughts aren’t wrong.”

Vince left Jesse to join the others in the campfire, a bout of uproarious laughter erupting after.

“Ass.”   
  


* * *

 

”Well, we found a new source of food. If we’re lucky, we can even milk ‘em for a bit.”

“What is it?” One of the new members asked.

“It’s a school. People’re trying to get society back up and running...but we’re gonna put a stop to that, ain’t we, boys?”

A resounding “Yeah!” was put forth.

“Alright! Jesse, you’re in for espionage.”

“Uh...I’m bad at being subtle, though.”

“What you’re gonna do is jump the fence, and map everything out. Simple as that.”

“I’m bad at drawing, too. Wouldn’t Kyle be better suited to this?”

“Do it, or you’ll be having problems.”

Jesse held his hands up, relenting. “Fine, fine!”

“Good. Pack up. You leave tomorrow. In and out. Find the food places and mark them down.”

“What if I get captured?”

“Collateral. We’ll send someone in to find you.”

* * *

  
Jesse scaled the fence with ease and landed down, making sure his serape didn’t get dirtier than it already was. There was a window open to a room with light coming out of it, and Jesse peered inside.  Inside was a small dining hall, with five kids and a few adults, all happily eating around a table. One was insanely large and muscular. This would prove to be difficult if he got caught.

Obviously everyone had gathered here for dinner, but his heart panged. He didn’t belong there.

_ Then again, I wasn’t supposed to belong there in the first place. _

He walked around the perimeter of the school, finding another open window to climb through. Wow, these people were basically asking for it.

The room had two beds, so it was a living quarter area. Did that mean he was in a hall of similar rooms?

He stayed there, drawing it out and mapping every little room he could. So far he found nothing but beds, so no dice. All the doors were on one side, though, and he was certain that the hallway went around one certain room.

There was a door on the other side, and Jesse swiftly opened it. It was a bathroom, but as he went further down he noticed shower stalls. Without thinking, he turned one on.

The water was hot. Jesse sorely missed the hot water before the war. He liked the way it ran down his skin.

He suddenly heard the door open, and he quickly pulled himself into the bathroom stall, sliding the curtain shut. He pressed his boots against the wall, making sure no one could look under and see his spurs.

“-and they were roommates!” One cheery girl finished, her conversational partner laughing. Jesse noted that the girl was with a boy - was the bathroom co-ed?

“Oh my god, were they actually roommates?” The voice sounded suspiciously robotic for some reason. Jesse considered peeking out the curtains to see why, but he was not revealing his location.

Jesse painstakingly waited as the two continued conversing in the bathroom. How long was this going to take? He shut his eyes and hoped that the voices would drown out and fall silent as they left the room.

They didn’t. He heard the curtain get shoved aside, revealing a bright, young girl with tanned skin and a boy with green hair, wearing some suit of armor.

“Hiya!”

“Uh...howdy?”

“I’m Fareeha, and this is Genji. Who’re you?”

He froze up. Crap, the Deadlocks were going to tan his hide for this! But he could still salvage this and be useful for once.

“Nunya.”

“Nunya?” Genji echoed, as if this wasn’t a totally normal name that people give to their children.

“Nunya business. Now git!” Jesse tore the curtain down and threw it onto the two students, his victims shrieking as they tried to get out of the wet cloth.

Nice. The cowboy made a run for it, dashing into the hall, furiously marking down which rooms were where, which ones were useful and which ones wouldn’t have food.

That was, until he bumped into something strong and hard. He hit the floor, grunting in pain. “What in sam hill-” He looked up at the man in front of him.

In front of him was a man who wore the most unreadable expression Jesse had ever seen. Under his beanie and goatee, his tanned skin - different than Fareeha - had contoured into a mixture of anger and...disappointment? And yet he slyly smiled.

“Hey kid. You have no idea how disappointed I am in you right now.”

* * *

Jesse was not a happy camper, even if he were in the dining hall, about to get a taste of real food, not some mushy impostor.

Gabe, as he knew, was sitting across from him, his friend Ana bringing a plate of food that smelled absolutely  _ heavenly _ . Jesse would kill for a chance to eat this in the wasteland. As soon as he got a utensil, he began wolfing it down.

“Geez, you must be starving, huh? Poor ingrate like you’s a growing boy and you’re out there being starved.”

Jesse would’ve shot back some insult, but his mouth was full of food.

“I’ll strike you a deal. You can stay here and learn with us. Try to build society back up. And you’ll get things like these. Hot food. Hot water. Friends that...won’t stab you in the back.”

Jesse stared at his plate, muttering something.

“What’d ya say? Can’t exactly hear you.”

“I said, why’re you takin’ in a ‘damn ingrate’ like me?”

“Hey, if you don’t like being called an ingrate, just say the word...but I know exactly what kinda people you’re running with. I can tell ya this much, they only want you to use. You plannin’ on stayin’?”

“Sure...but I’ll have to take care of some business first.”

* * *

When Jesse returned to the gang, he found them fighting.amongst each other. One huge bloody fistfight. Two bodies lay dead in the sandy ground, blood pooling around them. Jesse fired one warning shot into the air, silencing everyone.

“Hold up, now. What in tarnation’s going on here? Why are Mack and Ryan dead?”

“While you wasted your time inside, Greg thought he was a better leader than Vince. We can’t have that.”

“Obviously. Vince thinks he can boss us around, but I’m an actually competent person!”

“Well, I know just how to solve this…” How convenient for Jesse that this opportunity arose. “We have a shootout.” 

Angela peered out the window as she saw the warring groups face off. The two leaders were across from each other, their lackeys at their side.

“I’ll be the ref, if ya don’t mind. Soon as I shout ‘draw’, you two get shootin’.”

The two men nodded. Jesse began counting down.

“10...9...8...7...6…”

He closed his eyes, focusing like Gabe taught him to do. The gang didn’t want him, so he had to take them out in one fell swoop.

“5...4...3...2...1.”

 

Jesse opened his eyes. “ **It’s High Noon.** ”

“Jesse, was that a false start or a-”

The cowboy emptied his chamber, and his revolver moved like lightning as he shot down all 6.

“Draw! And that’s how the West was won.” Jesse turned around, tipping his hat at Angela and winking, before suddenly collapsing, exhausted, dehydrated and worn out..

Sighing, the medic made her way downstairs, before beginning to drag him out. “I can’t tell if you’re really dedicated to being a cowboy, or if you think that impresses people.”

* * *

 

  1. Mei



The first thing Mei felt when she stepped out was that it was cold.

“Mm...so cold!” Slowly opening her eyes as she stepped out of the small chamber, the young girl looked around the room. “Wait...what happened?” She left the bathroom, looking around her bedroom.

It was a small bedroom, with her favourite posters and a nice chest of drawers with all her clothes inside. Mei remembered packing up all her stuff like her parents told her to. She didn’t understand what was going on in the world at the time, but she knew something was going to happen.

“You’re going to be testing out something new for us.” They said. “You’ll go to sleep, you’ll wake up and you’ll get to spend some time with some other kids. Then you’ll be with us.”

“When will I see you again?” She had asked.

They didn’t know. So Mei would be alone, but she had friends to make! Like Snowball, the little robotic drone. When she first arrived, Mei took a liking. It was so cute and friendly! It even made her a snowball, but it melted.

Then Mei remembered something.

When she was inside, she felt the entire room shake as she was inside the chamber, before she blacked out. The scientists told her it was a high-tech shower, but in reality, what was it really?

She ran back into the bathroom. It looked like a shower, with a circular front and a sliding door. She tapped around, looking for something. Anything. Something was amiss, but this thing told her nothing. Maybe if she asked the scientists, they’d tell her.

She opened the door, but the hallway was glaringly...quiet. No scientists around. Not even a flash of a white coat. The doors to the cafeteria opened to find nothing except the tables and chairs, and the food replicators. Likewise for the offices. 

Mei went up to the head researcher’s office - she knew the way since she had to go to be interviewed - and went to the computer. 

Input credentials, the screen read. A username and password.  Well, Mei didn’t exactly have the credentials, for some reason. I mean, it’s not like she was a test subject and not the head researcher.

Maybe a hint would help. She randomly typed in some letters and hit enter. Still nothing of use. The hint didn’t even show up. Sighing, Mei plopped herself down in the chair. Who else would know the username and password? Snowball was just a drone, right?

Snowball...it was at least worth a shot. And even then, there had to be something in the crew quarters.

Out of the corner of her eye, Mei spotted something.

“A blueprint!” She quickly tore it off the bulletin board, looking it over. She would have to map her way out, but she had to find out what happened!

By the way, where was everyone? Why was she alone?

Mei remembered the other kids - Arrhenius, Adams, Opara, all the other kids she would be sharing the place with.

Maybe this was all just one big fun test!

She set off towards the rooms that housed the other kids. Maybe they could solve this together!

* * *

 

When Mei approached Opara’s room, she couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. There was an odd feeling in her chest. It was like when you could smell the rain - you knew it was coming, but you only had a matter of time. For Mei, something was coming, but she didn’t know what.

She knocked first - the door was still closed. “Opara? Hello?”

No response. Mei slid the door open. “Opara?”

The bedroom reminded Mei of Numbani, as if she had suddenly stepped through a portal. As she inched towards the bathroom, Mei felt a very anxious feeling well up in her chest.

Every part of her brain screamed  _ Don’t do it, Mei. Don’t open the door. _

Her hand reached for the small handle.

_ Do not open the door. _

She began sliding it open, shutting her eyes.

_ Do not open the door. Do not open the door. Do not open the door. DO NOT OPEN- _

When she opened her eyes, she gasped. Opara was there, inside that chamber, but he was completely covered in frost. 

* * *

 

Arrhenius. Adams. Torres. MacReady.  Every one of them was dead.

Mei stumbled out of MacReady’s room. Where was everyone? The researchers? The scientists? She frantically looked down at her map. She had to go exploring at the most inopportune time.

As Mei investigated each room, she found barely any trace of human people. Like she had been left there to-

Cryonics.

That was it. It all came back to her. This whole thing was a cryonics test. That’s why she was in the chamber. That’s why it was cold. That’s why every dead body was covered in frost.

It still didn’t answer the question of where everyone else was. As she ran around, she found to her dismay that all the offices were empty, as were the security offices. Her breaths grew ragged as she looked around. She was not an athletic person - that was more MacReady’s thing. Was MacReady a track runner or did she play volleyball?

“Hello? Is anyone there?” As Mei climbed the stairs, she remembered something.

Snowball. She had to find him.

Mei quickly ran into the climatology lab - her favourite room before the whole fiasco. There Snowball was, in the charging station. 

“Snowball! Snowball, wake up!” She tapped the top, and the two eyes lit up on the LED screen. Mei sighed a breath of relief. At least someone wasn’t dead.

“Snowball, something terrible has happened! Everyone is dead! Do you know where the researchers are?”

Snowball nodded and whizzed off, Mei following the drone down the hallways. She went past the security office and up the stairs to the top level.

Of course, the floor had been painted with the blood of all the researchers. Because they were all dead. What a surprise.

“Why? Why, why, why, why, why?!” Mei sank to her knees, staring at the bodies in utter despair and defeat. She was all alone here. The bodies were assorted, but someone obviously had to kill them. What happened? 

She couldn’t be here. She ran back down, not knowing where to go when she noticed a red light flashing in the security office.

“What’s that?” She went in, Snowball following her trail. 

“INTRUDER AT NORTH ENTRANCE”, the screen read. Mei looked at the array of camera feeds, looking for the north entrance.

There were living people there, because they had apparently set up camp. There was even a fire! It looked like they’d only been there for about a few hours, though if the unfinished tents were a clue. Maybe the scientists died trying to defend it?

There were so many questions Mei wanted to ask, but all she wanted to do was hug Snowball.

When she opened her tear-stained eyes again, she noticed a door in the back, labeled “COMMUNICATION SPIRE” in red paint.

* * *

  
Gabriel sighed as he turned on the radio. It was just him and Jack, relaxing on the bed after a hard day’s work of improving the school for the onslaught of new students they would recruit.

“...We’re never going to get better showers, are we?” he asked out loud.

“Nope.”

The radio signal suddenly fizzled out as a young girl’s voice suddenly cut the music out.

“Hey, what gives?” Jack sat back up, shaking the radio, despite knowing full well that’s not how radios work. “If it’s one of those amateurs, I swear I’m gon-”

“-nybody there?” The girl’s voice cleared up. “I need serious help! I don’t know where I am, but I think I’m underground. Everyone is dead. Please help me, I don’t have much time. There are strange people at the top and I think they killed everyone! Ah, here it is...I’m at the...Cryo Vault? I know it’s not much, but I need serious help here!” The message began looping over and over.

Gabe looked over at Jack, who nodded back. “They woke up, didn’t they? Get Reinhardt and Ana. Maybe Angela, too.”

* * *

 

It turned out the communication spire also doubled as a panic room, which Mei supposed was good. She just hoped that she didn’t disrupt anyone’s radio shows - she wasn’t much help with where the “Cryo-Vault” was. 

She went back into the security room. The invaders had picked up on her emergency message, and were now scouting around the base for the signal. There had to be some sort of way to put them off.

Door controls, on the left. She looked at the panel, showing the layout of the base. She could trap people in for the time being, but it would be a very dangerous game to play.

One by one, she maneuvered each security door to be closed, blocking people off or forcing them to take the long route to somewhere else. It was clear to them that their target was in the security office, but they had no way of getting there - Mei had closed the doors to all the hallways leading to her location.

She had to keep it up long enough for help to arrive, but she couldn’t do it forever. 

“Please, where are you?”

As Mei continued blocking raiders off, she couldn’t help but notice they were starting to use explosives to tear through the halls. Time was running out. 

“Come on, little girlie! We know you’re in there!” One of the intruders shouted. “No need to be so scared...come on, play with us a little!”

That sounded exactly like something a slasher killer from one of those old horror movies would say.

“Open up!” Another began pounding on the door.

“No!” Mei shouted back.

“...Please?”

The raiders were beginning to group up at the emergency doors. They wouldn’t hold long. She could hear them outside, and she was close to just running into the communication spire.

“Oh, you got the battering ram? Neat. Did ya hear that? If ya don’t open up in 3, we’ll huff, and puff, and blow this to pieces!”

The proper reaction to being told this was exactly what Mei did: run and hide. The communication spire’s door was closed and blocked off, and Mei quickly recorded another message.

“Is anyone out there? They’re almost at the door...I’m not sure if I can make it.”

Snowball rubbed up against her comfort her, and the Chinese girl suddenly had an idea. She whispered something into the drone’s auditory receivers, and the drone nodded in return, as if to agree.

She heard the door to the security office break open, and the battering ram was already pushing down the door of the panic room. Thankfully, it was a panic room so it was going to take a bit more force than that. Mei could only curl up and hope she wouldn’t have to resort to this. This was a last minute option, considering she was cornered. Each second was excruciatingly long, feeling more like an hour with each pounding the door took.

The panic door finally was blown down, and Mei, terrified, saw her assailants, who looked back with hungry eyes.

She still had one card in her hand - Snowball.

“Dòng zhù! Bùxǔ zǒu!” She tossed the drone as far away as she could and curled up, shutting her eyes. She tried to block out the horrified screams of everyone as Snowball quite literally froze them alive.

When Snowball nudged her again, she ignored the frozen bodies and ran, not caring if she knocked over anyone.

She stopped only a minute to look back, and she gasped. “Oh...what have I done?!” It was no use dwelling on it now. She did what she had to do.

* * *

 

When Mei finally opened the door to the top floor of whatever vault this was, she was exhausted and done. No more. She didn’t want to suffer any longer. The South Entrance was where all the bodies were, but she didn’t want to go there.

As Mei approached, she felt that strange, uneasy dread she felt entering Opara’s room. Snowball definitely couldn’t pull another blizzard-type move like that again.

More raiders, standing guard at the camp. One of them caught her eye.

“So.” Mei found herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun, and similar firearms were pointed at her. “You got luck on your side, didn’t ya? Managed to escape? You’re not so lucky here.” Mei felt someone from behind grab her hands, tying them together, dragging her to the nearby support beam.

“Hands off! Why are you doing this to me?”

“You think you richies got to wait it out underground when the bombs went off? Tough luck with that. We don’t take lightly to freeloaders.”

A firing squad. Mei’s eyes darted around. She couldn’t find anything to help her here. Not even Snowball could distract them long enough.

“Are you ready?”

“Let go of me, you bullies!” Mei shrieked, even if she knew it was futile. She wasn’t strong enough to break free of the ropes, nor could she suddenly become bulletproof. An odd thought burst into her mind.

_ Memento Mori. _

“3…”

_ Remember _

"2…”

_ you _

“1…”

_ will _

“Fire at will!”

_ die. _

 

“ _Tactical visor activated._ **I’ve got you in my sights.** ”

Her executioners suddenly cried out in pain as they were all shot. Behind her was a man old enough to be her grandfather wearing a visor. 

“Resistance neutralized. Gabe, it’s gonna be you and I, South Entrance. Scout for any others. Rein, Ana, keep her safe.”

“Understood.” A gigantic man in armor who was probably old enough to be the grandfather’s grandfather stepped out, accompanied by another older woman. “Hello! I am Reinhardt, and this is Ana. We’re here to save you!”

Mei found tears of joy rolling down her face. Had she died and gone to the afterlife? Or was she really saved? Ana quickly knelt down and began cutting the ropes on Mei, while Reinhardt stood guard.

“Thank you!” Mei quickly hugged Ana as soon as she was untied. It was a frightening experience she didn’t want to relive ever.

“The enemy approaches!” Reinhardt warned, and Mei could see the rest of the gang she trapped emerge from the nearby staircase.

“Nano-boost ready...” Taking out a pistol, Ana shot at Reinhardt, who suddenly looked very powerful and intimidating. “...and Nano-boost administered. Warīhum quwitak!”

“ARE YOU READY? HERE I COME!” Reinhardt began his battle against the raiders, practically launching his hammer at them. 

Ana quickly ushered Mei towards the North Entrance elevator, but Mei noticed someone up above.

“Sniper!” She shrieked, recoiling as the new entrant missed her feet by mere centimetres. “Watch out!” The two females avoided another shot, but Ana had other ideas.

“Naptime~” Ana shot something at the sniper, who quickly fell down. “That was a sleep dart. They won’t be up soon.” She tapped into an earpiece. “Group up at my position. She’s secured.”

Almost immediately, Reinhardt charged in, impacting against the wall of the elevator. In the distance, she could see Jack and Gabe come running. The two men activated the elevator, and the ascent upwards began.

“Where are you taking me?” She asked Ana, still refusing to let go of her tight embrace on the older woman’s arm.

“Somewhere safe where you won’t have to defend yourself against killers. Do you remember what the world was like? Before this?”

“Well…I remember my mom, and my dad, and we lived in a nice little house at the end of Adawe Avenue. Do you know where that is?”

“Mei…” Ana sighed, knowing the young girl would have a lot to learn. “It’s...a way different world now. There’s going to be a lot of things you’ll have to face. The world you knew before is dead.”

The other three men were silent, each having a grim face.

“...Will there be other kids with me? 

“Of course. ”

“Then...I guess there will be nothing to worry about. As long as I have friends, I’ll have a world worth fighting for.”

Ana smiled. Bittersweet as it was, she always appreciated someone with a bit of wisdom every now and then.

The elevator ride up was long and tedious, and Mei found herself falling asleep, exhausted from all the action. Reinhardt hoisted her body onto his shoulders, and when they finally got to the top, he set her down on the ground, transferring her to Angela’s care as he began getting out of his armor.

“How is she doing? Any visible injuries?”

“No, but she’s...been through a lot.”

Angela dragged the body into the jeep. “Haven’t we all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thank you to midgetnazgul for being my beta this chapter! I had a request for something Tracer and Widow-centric, so here's their origin stories. Tracer's also focused on Winston a bit too. Welp.
> 
> Also yes, at some point everyone will use their Ultimate Lines.
> 
> What do you want to see in future chapters? Let me know! The next one's gonna be a bit light from the angst, it's gonna be fluffy as a pancake.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will be a super non-linear, slice of life structure, akin to A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I want everyone to just have a happy ending ahhh
> 
> I probably will continue this. If you like it, leave a suggestion on what you want to see next!


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